


White

by myownspecialself



Category: Smallville
Genre: Established Relationship, Futurefic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-11-19
Updated: 2004-11-19
Packaged: 2017-11-01 05:09:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/352299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myownspecialself/pseuds/myownspecialself
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Do you believe a man can fly?" Lex once asked Clark many years ago. ~ Warning: Character Death</p>
            </blockquote>





	White

**Author's Note:**

> Written in April 2004 (in a slightly different version) for Thamiris' "All-Fandom, Cross-Fandom 48-Hour Color Drabble/Short-Story Challenge." 

## White

by Myownspecialself

<http://www.livejournal.com/users/mosself/>

* * *

Date: November 2004 

Disclaimer: This story is for entertainment only. It is not for profit. Smallville is the property of Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, Tollin-Robbins Productions, and Warner Bros. Television, and based upon characters originally created by Jerome Siegel and Joe Shuster. 

Archive: Please ask first (I've never said no). 

[http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?journal=thamiris&itemid=177290](http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?journal=thamiris&itemid=177290)

Acknowledgments: Many thanks and a hug to Tehomet and Bittermint for the beta. 

~ 

_It must be night_ , Lex thought as he looked around the hospital room. _You'd think they could turn on another light or two_. He would ask Clark to take care of that when he arrived for visiting hours. 

Some time later, he sensed a flurry of movement near his head. He opened his eyes and looked at Clark, who was fussing with Lex's pillow. "Remember your loft? In the barn?" 

Clark nodded and gave a crooked smile that made Lex think that Clark, too, was in a nostalgic mood. "Dad used to call it my 'Fortress of Solitude.'" 

"Solitude. Solitary." Lex thought about this. After a while, he said, "You always seemed so alone, at first." He paused. "So . . . unsure. Wary, even." 

"Yes, I was. I was in awe of you, I suppose. But I wasn't afraid and alone for long, was I?" Clark's tone was gentle; he drew up a chair and sat down next to Lex's bed. "I mean, the loneliness ended when you seduced me right after my high school graduation." 

"I beg to differ," Lex snorted softly. "You started it. If I recall correctly, you claimed it was way too hot a summer night to wear a shirt up there in the loft and you made me take mine off. And then you took off yours." He chuckled; the chuckle turned into a laugh that quickly broke off into a cough. He saw a look of alarm cross Clark's face and he lifted a hand to tell Clark to stay seated. 

"It _was_ extremely warm." Clark's voice was soft, the tone all mock defensiveness. "You were so beautiful that night, too. And you were smirking at me." Clark swallowed and leaned forward in his chair. "You were so irresistible." He felt Clark's hand on his cheek. "Still are." 

"Do you remember--" he said, and Clark leaned closer. Lex wondered if somehow Clark was starting to lose his hearing. "--what I asked you that day, the first time you ever came to visit me at the mansion?" 

"I think you said . . ." Clark was studying his face closely; he seemed confused. "You asked me if I believed a man could fly." 

"A silly question in retrospect," Lex said. " _You_ can fly, of course." He wanted to say more, but he felt so tired. After a minute, he added, "But I _did_ fly that day we met on the riverbank." He was whispering, although he really didn't know why. "I've told you that many times." 

"Yes, you have." Clark nodded slowly and deliberately, which was a good thing, because Lex could hardly hear his affirmation; Clark seemed to be mumbling. "The loneliness went away quickly, Lex," Clark said, as if far away, "when you and I became friends. And after that, when we got married, the loneliness never came back." 

Lex smiled. Then he saw in those eyes that Clark was still afraid of being alone. Even after all these years. 

He started to take Clark's hand, but his own didn't seem to want to move. Clark must have noticed this, because he gently took Lex's hands instead. 

"You know, you promised me you would always be with me. That we'd always be together." 

Clark's voice sounded odd and Lex looked closely. And Clark's face was strange, too, as if more lights-- almost too many-- had been turned on in the room. Or maybe the whiteness of Lex's pillow was spreading rapidly, causing the color to fade from Clark's features, and from the room as well. 

He felt Clark's hands tighten on both of his. 

"Yes, I promised, didn't I?" 

"Don't leave me, Lex." Clark's voice was panicky but distant, and he seemed smaller, as if he were drifting away from Lex, as if the whiteness were swallowing him. 

Where is Clark going? he wondered. Where were _they_ going? He really shouldn't go anywhere until he got better. Surely Clark understood this. 

Then he noticed that he was airborne. 

"I seem to be flying. Clark, is that your doing?" He looked around. 

"Lex . . ." 

He didn't hear the rest of Clark's answer because he was now floating above Smallville, very high and in the clouds. Or so he assumed, since there was nothing but white everywhere. 

A few raindrops fell on his face. _It must be spring_ , he thought, feeling the lukewarm wetness. 

One of the drops ran down his cheek and into his mouth. It was salty. He wondered if they were near the ocean. 

He turned, and Clark's face emerged from the whiteness long enough for him to notice that Clark's eyes shone very brightly. And, for some reason, Clark's cheeks glimmered, all shiny as if wet. 

Lex looked around again; he felt so light. "Ah. You see? A man _can_ fly." He turned back to Clark. 

Lex realized he was talking to himself: Clark wasn't at his side anymore. 

And he was still flying. 

~ 


End file.
